May 2015 - Cartridge Filter Insights 49

International Monetary Fund has lowered its outlook for Canadian economic growth.

It describes Canada’s recent performance as “solid” but says the risk to its growth has been increased by an unusually large drop in oil prices, weaker business investment in the energy sector and lower employment growth

The latest projection from the Washington-based agency calls for the Canadian economy to grow 2.2% in 2015, down from the January estimate of 2.3%.

Canada is expected to outperform Japan and countries that use the euro, but lag behind the United States and the United Kingdom.

The IMF estimates in a report that the American economy will grow 3.1% this year and the U.K’s real gross domestic product will grow by 2.7%.

The IMF also predicts the 18 countries that use the euro will expand 1.5% in 2015, up from a January forecast of 1.2%. The fund forecasts that Japan will grow 1.0% this year, versus an earlier forecast of 0.6%.

Exports have been touted as a savior of the economy, with Canadian exporting set to rise on the lower dollar…The remaining text is not included in this sample.

Is it time to start panicking about China’s debt? If you believe Beijing won’t support the municipalities that have overdosed on credit over the last few years, then absolutely. But overall, China’s federal level debt remains low, bank’s remain strong despite higher non-performing loans on the balance sheet, and yet we still get a total debt to GDP ratio of a whopping 282%.

First, a little comparison. The U.S. total debt to GDP, which includes household and corporate debt, is 331.7%. The economy has not imploded because of that, though there are plenty of people out there with books and newsletters to sell who say it is only a matter of time. They might be right. The same holds for China.

McKinsey Global Institute blamed China’s debt burden on a credit bubble which began in earnest in 2009. Back then, China was trying to plug up the holes left by the U.S. and European financial crisis. China is export dependent. When its two biggest clients fell because of its own credit bubble, China did what all economies do in crisis — stimulate, stimulate and stimulate some more.

McKinsey says local debt is the biggest problem. Central government debt is still low, at around 64% of GDP. That gives the government room to — well, stimulate some more. The central bank is currently running its own mini-QE program, which has helped the stock market beat the MSCI Emerging Markets Index by a landslide year-to-date…The remaining text is not included in this sample.

Investors can expect mostly upbeat data from Eastern European markets this week, despite the potential contagion from recession in Russia and financial crisis in Greece, according to Capital Economics.

Russia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia are scheduled to report first quarter GDP figures this week. The Russian economy likely contracted by around 3% year over year, with inflation hurting consumer spending. “But industry has held up reasonably well, which has prevented an even sharper fall in output,” Capital Economics writes. For central and southern Europe, Capital Economics sees an expansion in output of 3% year over year for the region, compared with 2.7% in the fourth quarter of 2014. Capital Economics adds:

“There has been very little evidence, so far at least, that the recession in Russia and renewed problems in Greece have had any impact on activity in the region … At a country level, we think that Hungary and Poland were the region’s best performers. We have penciled in GDP growth of 3.3% y/y in both countries, which would roughly be in line with the fourth quarter’s outturn. Elsewhere, we think growth in the Czech Republic accelerated to around 2.0% y/y in the first quarter, from 1.4% y/y in the fourth quarter, and would highlight that the chance of an upside surprise here is high.

As for Russia, Capital Economics expects preliminary first quarter GDP contraction due to the toll from “low oil prices, last year’s ruble crisis and Western sanctions.”

The slump in consumer-facing sectors was probably the biggest drag on growth in Q1 as households’ real incomes collapsed on the back of soaring inflation. Retail sales contracted by 6.9% y/y in real terms over the first three months of the year. Investment in productive capacity was also hard hit, falling by 6.1% y/y in Q1…The remaining text is not included in this sample.

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Kinder Morgan and Keyera to Build New Crude Oil Storage Terminal in Edmonton, AB

CONSOL Energy and Halliburton Deliver Fracturing Spread Powered by EPA Tier 4F Emissions Standard-Compliant

Pipeline Owners and Developers Planning Host of Projects to Reach New Markets

NuStar Energy Building Storage to Enable Condensate Exports from Corpus Christi

Williams Seeks FERC Approval for Fully Subscribed Pipeline Expansion to Serve Southeast

PA DEP Revised Rulemaking Proposal for Oil and Gas Well Environmental Protection Performance Standards

Howard Energy Partners Expands into Marcellus Shale with Acquisition of PA Pipeline System

South Africa’s SacOil Signs Agreement to Study $6 Bln Gas Pipeline Project

Meritage Midstream Announces January Startup of NGL Pipeline in Powder River Basin

Glori Energy, Petrobras Commence Field Wide Implementation of AERO™ System in Brazil

Work on Pateke-4H Subsea Tie-back Project Underway at New Zealands’s Tui Oil Fields

Technip Awarded Contract to Supply High Technological Flexible Pipes for Lula Alto Pre-Salt Field

PSE&G Unveils 5-Year Proposal to Continue to Replace Aging Gas Infrastructure

These sales leads are part of Oil, Gas, Shale and Refining Markets and Projects, and are issued bi-weekly. As a subscriber to Cartridge Filters: World Market you receive a 30 percent discount for this service.

Praxair Gulf Coast Expansion to Serve Freeport, Texas, and Supply New Yara/ BASF Ammonia Project

Solvay to Expand Peroxides Production to Serve Growing North American Markets

LyondellBasell to Expand Production Capacity of Tri-ethylene Glycol in Texas Plant

Chiye Organic Silicon Material (Shanghai) Invests US1.6 Million on Production Plant

Shin-Etsu to Expand Silicone Production in Thailand; Plans US Technical Center

Technip Awarded Contract for Qingdao 500 KTA Ethylbenzene Styrene Monomer Plant

Technip Awarded Substantial Contract for New Fertilizer Unit in Slovak Republic

Air Liquide to Build, Own and Operate World’s Largest Oxygen Production Unit for Sasol in South Africa

Grupa Azoty Announces Historical $450m Investment in New PDH Plant in Poland

Polypore Sells Energy Storage Segment for $2.2B to Asahi Kasei, Separations Media Segment to 3M for $1B

Seaboard Foods, Triumph Foods to Jointly Build $264m Pork Processing Facility in Iowa

Al Safi Danone Iraq to Receive Investment from IFC to Expand Dairy Operations

Fonterra Increases Mozzarella Production with New Clandeboye, New Zealand Plant

This includes only projects where there was an update during the month. There are thousands of projects in the database.

New power generation projects are tracked in two publications. Fossil and Nuclear Power Generation includes both market forecasts and project data. World Power Generation Projects has just the project data.

Project Title	First Entry Date		Location		Startup date
Simhadri III expansion-National Thermal Power Corp.	4/1/2015		India		Unknown
Sorong power plant-Japan Gasoline Co	4/1/2015		Indonesia		Unknown
Zabrze CHP plant-Fortum	4/1/2015		Poland		2018
Mae Moh ultra supercritical expansion-Electricity Gen Auth of Thailand	4/1/2015		Thailand		2018
Odessa IGCC power plant-Summit Power	4/1/2015		TX		Unknown
Duyen Hai 2	4/1/2015		Vietnam		2020
Duyen Hai 1	4/1/2015		Vietnam		2015
Manuguru power plant-Telangana State Power Generation	10/1/2014		India		2017
Bin Qasim power plant	7/1/2014		Pakistan		2018
Jaworzno ultra supercritical power plant-Tauron	7/1/2013		Poland		2019
Safaga power plant on Red Sea-Orascom	1/1/2013		Egypt		Unknown
Rampal (Friendship. Maitree) power plant-Power Development Board/NTPC	9/1/2010		Bangladesh		Unknown
Khargone ultra supercritical power plant-NTPC	4/1/2010		India		Unknown
Batang power plant-PT Adaro Energy, J-Power, and Itochu	4/1/2010		Indonesia		2019
Duyen Hai 3-3 supercritical power plant-EVN	1/1/2009		Vietnam		2018
Aqaba Stage 1-Jordan nuclear power plants	12/1/2008		Jordan		2021
Hongyanhe 1-6 nuclear power plant-CGNPC	9/1/2007		China		2021
Kusile supercriticcal power project-Eskom Project Bravo	1/1/2007		South Africa		2018
Sasan supercritical power plant-Reliance Power	1/1/2006		India		2015
Krishnapatnam B supercritic(Sri Damodaram Sanjeevaiah)-Andhra Pradesh Power			India		2015
Zuma Energy Nigeria power plant (Itobe		3/1/2015		Nigeria		Unknown
Cadiz CFB power plant-North Negros Energy Power		3/1/2015		Philippines		2018
Cox's Bazar (Matarbari) ultra supercritica plant-Bangladesh Power Dev. Board		5/1/2013		Bangladesh		2019
Kudankulam expansion (3 and 4)		9/1/2010		India		2023
Bhadreshwar power plant-OPG Ltd.		9/1/2010		India		2015
Fangjiashan 1,2		7/1/2010		China		2015
Krishnapatnam Phase 1-Thermal Powertech Corp. India		5/1/2010		India		2016
Barakah 1-4 nuclear power plant		6/1/2009		United Arab Emirates		2020
Barapukuria expansion (III)-CMC		3/1/2008		Bangladesh		Unknown
Astravyets in Ostrovetsky district--Belarus nuclear power plant		6/1/2007		Belarus		2020
Alvin W. Vogtle 3,4 nuclear power plant-Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power		6/1/2007		GA		2020
Tanda supercritical power plant-NTPC		8/1/2006		India		2019
Moorburg 1,2-Vattenfall Europe		5/1/2006		Germany		2015
Margam biomass power plant		2/1/2015		UK		2017
Kothagudem power plant		10/1/2014		India		2018
Hub Power Co.power project		10/1/2014		Pakistan		2018
Tuticorin expansion-Neyveli Lignite		12/1/2013		India		Unknown
Dahej power plant-Adani Power		1/1/2008		India		Unknown
Metsamor-Armenia replacement nuclear power plant		10/1/2007		Armenia		2027
Tiroda Phase I and II power project-Adani Power		10/1/2007		India		2016